Update: City fire crews taxed as grass fires threaten homes

A large grass fire burns behind homes on Bowdale Crescent on Friday May 10, 2013. Residents on the street were evacuated while crews battled the blazeGavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Police evacuate an elderly man from his home on Bowdale Crescent after a grass fire burned up to his home on Friday May 10, 2013. The man initially was reluctant to leave his property.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Crews extinguish a large grass fire behind homes on Bowdale Crescent on Friday May 10, 2013. Residents on the street were evacuated while crews battled the blazeGavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Crews extinguish a large grass fire behind homes on Bowdale Crescent on Friday May 10, 2013. Residents on the street were evacuated while crews battled the blazeGavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Gavin Young, Calgary Herald CALGARY, AB: May 10, 2013 - A large grass fire burns behind homes on Bowdale Crescent on Friday May 10, 2013. Residents on the street were evacuated while crews battled the blaze (Gavin Young/Calgary Herald) (For City story by TBA)Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Police have gone door to door evacuating homes while a large grass fire burns near Edworthy Park in the city's NW.Don McCreary
/ Submitted

A resident watches as a large grass fire burns up to her backyard on Bowdale Crescent on Friday May 10, 2013.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Police evacuate an elderly women from her home on Bowdale Crescent after a grass fire burned up to her home on Friday May 10, 2013.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

A large grass fire burns behind homes on Bowdale Crescent on Friday May 10, 2013. Residents on the street were evacuated while crews battled the blazeGavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

A large grass fire burns behind homes on Bowdale Crescent on Friday May 10, 2013. Residents on the street were evacuated while crews battled the blazeGavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Large grass fires flared up in Calgary on Friday as dry conditions throughout the province kept several municipalities and counties under strict fire bans.

Crews in Calgary spent part of the afternoon battling several fires over a large area in and around Edworthy Park.

Further north, one fire came close to homes on Bowdale Crescent N.W., prompting police to evacuate about a dozen houses shortly after 1 p.m.

There were no injuries or reports of property damage, but the situation created some anxious moments for residents of the neighbourhood.

Shirley Palichuk got a phone call telling her the fire was right behind her home, but was prevented from returning while authorities blocked off the street as firefighters worked to put out the stubborn blaze.

“I’m just glad that the house isn’t burned. That was the scary thing,” said Palichuk.

She said conditions around her home have been “very dry” lately.

Dry conditions exist throughout the province, with fire bans blanketing much of the area between Calgary and Edmonton and east to the provincial boundary with Saskatchewan.

In the Calgary area, bans are in place in Foothills, Rocky View and Mountain View counties, Airdrie, Cochrane and Chestermere.

The fire near Bowdale Crescent reached within 400 metres of some homes and was moving quickly before crews brought it under control.

The fire department requested helicopters from the provincial Environment and Sustainable Resource Development department.

The choppers alternated filling up buckets with water from the Bow River and emptying them over the fire.

“There are areas where we can’t really get to easily (with) our apparatuses,” Ball said. Rigs from neighbouring Rocky View County also came in to help Calgary firefighters.

“Just because of the number of fires involved, it taxed our resources a bit,” said Ball.

Bowdale Crescent resident Willis Hall said he was watering down his yard when authorities asked him to leave. As he watched crews fighting the grass fire, Hall said he felt it took too long for firefighters to start using the helicopters.

“The first time I saw it was an hour and a half, two hours at least before I saw a water bomber. I don’t know why,” said Hall.

At one point, thick smoke prompted police to close the northbound lanes of Sarcee Trail.

Police reopened the road just after 4 p.m., in time for the afternoon rush hour.

“At this time, we believe there are seven separate fires — all are under control now,” Ball said Friday evening.

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